Hero Worship: Holi (Mane)

Written by LAURA REGENSDORF
Illustrated by LYDIA McKEE

In 2015, when the former footwear designer Jena Covello launched Agent Nateur, its first formula targeted a historically unsexy category: deodorant. It was early days for the clean-beauty movement—still associated with neighborhood health-food stores—and the brand was focused on delivering hardworking products for a discerning crowd. Five years later, its supplement Holi (Mane) made an auspiciously timed debut, arriving just months into the pandemic. Featuring a blend of marine collagen and pearl powder to support skin and hair, it quickly found a loyal audience among the wellness set—thanks in part to viral posts, word-of-mouth testimonials, and on-point advice from Covello’s mom, Marcella. The story of its success illustrates how much the big-picture beauty conversation has evolved, where Holi (Mane) is at home on the SHELVES alongside biotech-backed serums. Here’s how the best seller was born.

THE GENESIS

For Covello, the spark to create a conscientious beauty brand wasn’t just a matter of entrepreneurial drive. It evolved out of a long quest for relief from her stage four endometriosis. “I was in chronic pain since I was 12,” says the founder, describing regular trips to the emergency room and rounds of surgeries. As her hormone levels swung out of balance, a naturopath suggested switching to a natural deodorant, in an effort to steer clear of potential endocrine disruptors. The available offerings on the market left Covello unimpressed, between the jarred “pit paste” formulas and the stick versions that underperformed. “I wanted to make something that actually was effective and had a luxurious name and looked beautiful on the shelf,” she says. After nine months and some 200 batches, she decided she’d cracked the code. Agent Nateur soft-launched with help from crowdsourced funding, and Covello went off to Grasse, France, to study natural cosmetics and fragrance. The deodorant found its fan base, among them the functional medicine practitioner Dr. Will Cole. As her endometriosis flared up, she started on his protocol and noticed a marked improvement. Buoyed by the upswing, she proposed a collaboration.

THE FORMULA

The supplement they dreamed up, called Holi (Youth), combined four key ingredients: the blue-green algae spirulina; adaptogenic holy basil; pearl powder, long used in traditional Chinese medicine; and marine collagen. A central talking point was that the blend helped reduce inflammation in the gut, which had ripple effects in skin. But the subtle oceanic taste proved to be a sticking point. “It flopped,” Covello says. Her mother, Marcella, pinpointed the issue. “She said, ‘Look, I don’t like your spirulina—but the collagen that’s in your product, it really works.’” Covello had sourced her marine collagen from a top-tier supplier, which uses wild-caught fish such as cod, pollock, and haddock. It’s odorless, just like the pearl powder, which is rich in an array of trace minerals. As she combined the two to fulfill her mom’s custom request, she called Dr. Cole, proposing that they retool their collaboration—after all, he had put the ingredients on her radar. “We launched Holi (Mane) at the end of 2020,” she says, “and the product went completely viral by March.” It helped that a growing body of research was highlighting the benefits of marine collagen, including minimized oxidative stress and photodamage. The shiny aquatic packaging credits the collaboration with Dr. Cole, though, as Covello points out, “It should say Marcella on there, too!”

THE MOMENTUM

With Holi (Mane), the launch timing was fortuitous. The pandemic had put well-being at the center of the collective conversation. Some people struggled with hair shedding, whether due to stress or COVID exposure; others scrutinized their skin quality during Zoom meetings. First-time buyers became loyal devotees. When the comedian Esther Povitsky posted a video about “things hot girls in LA are currently obsessed with,” interest in Holi (Mane) spiked. “She is very responsible for helping us blow up at Erewhon,” says Covello. Even so, the founder admits she initially questioned whether the niche Los Angeles grocery store would be the right fit. After all, those who approached clean beauty through a luxury lens had done so much work to escape being lumped in with the bulk-granola aisle. But strangers routinely recognized her at Erewhon, proving that her audience was there; together with placement alongside cult skin care at VIOLET GREY’s Melrose Store, Agent Nateur was in good hands. Today, at a time when protein intake is a hot topic, Holi (Mane) remains the brand’s best seller, with each scoop packing in 8 grams. Covello takes three scoops a day, whether in smoothies or as a frothy addition to her decaf almond-milk latte. There’s now a companion hair product, too: Holi (Growth) 84, a water-based topical scalp spray formulated with the ingredient Redensyl. “It was the closest thing I could find to minoxidil that was safe if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding,” Covello says. The formula promises fuller hair in 84 days with twice-daily application—the makings of a hot-girl obsession.